Unfinished Business
by Wrongful Vanity
Summary: [Corpse Bride] Bonejangles comes topside to settle something unfinished,and requests, well, demands the help of Victor and Victoria to do so.
1. Hello Darlin'

I _had_ to do it. no, really, I had to, or I was going to implode. no, seriously. I'll put this into the Corpse Bride section as soon as one exists. cough hint hint cough okay, yes, this is a Victoria/Victor pairing, and no, Emily isn't coming back in this story. I love her despeatly, but she's moved on, and I don't think it would be fair to ask her out of wherever she is. one other thing, Bone Jangles Kicks ass.

* * *

"Hel_lo _Darlin'"

Married life suited them both beautifully. For the first time that anyone had known him, Victor smiled at passerby on the streets; Victoria looked rosier than she ever had in all of her young life. Oddest of all, both of them seemed, thoroughly… _happy_. Not just every so often, but happy _all the time_. To any other town it would have been lovely and romantic, but this town found it very suspicious. Not only were they both happy and colorful when they should be demure, and quiet and dull, but they had also chosen to make their home in a mansion far on the other side of the church, only redoubling town's suspicions. The town's citizens made it his or her personal duty to discover what exactly was the secret to their happiness, as it could not be anything proper or wholesome they concocted some rather shocking and immoral theories. None of them could even imagine that it might have something to do with love. Ideas as unfashionable as love were seldom entertained by the rich folk, and Victor and Victoria VanDort were certainly rich.

Of course, it helped that there was some scandal surrounding the marriage in the first place. No one knew the whole story but apparently, on the day of Victor and Victoria's wedding rehearsal, Victor had actually married another woman, and Victoria had been demonically possessed. The very next day, Victoria married another man; witnesses said she looked as though she was in a trance, induced by… witchcraft perhaps? It was that night when (who could forget) the dead rose from the grave and said final goodbyes to their family. Somehow, Victoria's husband was killed that night, and moments later she and Victor were married. And what of Victor's "other woman"? The story goes that _that_ marriage was null from the very beginning. Other than that, no one knew anything of Victor and Victoria.

All they knew of the young couple's married life was what they had heard in rumors, and what they could gather from seeing them walk (yes walk, another oddity of the couple was that they employed no servants only Hildegard, an elderly nurse of Victoria's, of whom she was very fond) to visit their parents. This was an admittedly rare occurrence. For our own purposes however, we shall need a far more intimate perspective on Victor and Victoria's lives, let us follow them into their modestly sized mansion, past the small drawing room, and into the parlor. Here we find Victor playing a passionate ballad on the piano, while Victoria sits nearby. She wears a dress of vibrant blue with a hoop of brightly colored needlepoint abandoned on her lap.

It is early springtime, and the whole room is bright and colorful, and because the house is new (the VanDorts made plans to build the house the day after Victor's engagement to Victoria had been settled. He found such plans rather unsettling and premature, but they assured him it was to be small, only 4 bedrooms, perfect for newlyweds, and they said that as soon as he was married, he wouldn't want to live at home anyway. He couldn't argue the logic, and so allowed them to continue with the project.) a faint paint smell lingers on the walls trying to choke the hearty flowers vased on the piano.

Here is the scene in which we begin our story; a perfect place to begin, for it was right at this moment that Victoria let out a great half contented-sigh. Victor looked up from the piano and smiled at his bride.

"Yes Victoria?" he said gently. She smiled back at him, the now ever present blush on her cheeks suddenly more prominent.

"Oh Victor." She looked down at her forgotten needlepoint, then back at her husband. "I do so _wish_ I could learn." Victor tilted his head ever so slightly.

"Learn?" he said. Victoria nodded, her eyes suddenly shining with a distinct childish playfulness.

"The piano! I would love to learn to play the piano. You play so beautifully that it stirs in me this… _longing._" She blushed deeper into her needlepoint and raised her eyebrows, "to _learn_. That is."

"I see." Said Victor. He rested an elbow on the piano and smiled, "and here I thought piano was far too passionate for a young lady."

A mischievous smile danced across Victoria's lips and, her face still downcast, she gazed up at Victor.

"A little piano could hardly hurt. After all, I have been so very passionate these past weeks that I find it difficult to believe that any other feeling could possibly compare. If playing the piano is improper in its passion, then I am fairly certain that I have gone far beyond such impropriety… as far as _passion_ goes."

Victor seemed to consider this for a moment then said, "well Victoria, if you truly wish to learn, then come over here and sit next to me"

She stood happily, not caring to notice her needlepoint fall onto the Persian rug, and sat next to Victor on the piano bench. She looked challengingly at the piano as though it were a predator, and pressed one of the keys. She was delighted when it emitted a beautiful resonating note, charmed that the sound had happened because of her.

"Are you ready to begin, Victoria?" She nodded. "Well then, I suppose… the first thing you must learn is how to rest your hands on the keys. You want your fingers to be rounded- a bit more gently than that. Here, this is how I was taught." He made his hand into a fist, knuckles up. "No, rest your hand upon mine…" She tentatively did as she was told and rested her small hand upon his. "See… how your hand…" but he never finished his sentence, for the moment their skin touched there was a thrill. Both of them felt it and both were surprised by the intensity and passion they felt on the surface of he other's hand. Piano forgotten, the two leaned in for the inevitable kiss.

Ten minutes later found our lovers startled back into reality by a loud knocking on the door. They sprang apart in alarm and scrambled quickly into a standing position. The knock sounded again.

"Is that really how you were taught, Victor?" Victoria asked, smoothing out her dress and buttoning it back up to the very top of her fearfully high collar

"Well, no… not precisely" they smiled shyly at each other and the knocking on the door became more insistent.

"Oh… dear. I'll get it," Victoria said, "of the two of us, I'm the more presentable at the moment"

"Yes, of course," said Victor, "now if I could only find my jacket…"

Victoria hurried to the door, her hair in waves about her shoulders, and her face all the more flushed. She reached the door just as the person was knocking caustically and more insistently than ever, and after a swift hopeless look in the mirror, wrenched it open to find a Skeleton standing unconcernedly on the other side. He had one eye, and leaned on a cane. He looked Victoria up and down and tipped his Bowler hat.

"Hel_lo_ Darlin'"

Victoria looked back at the Skeleton in only mild surprise "Oh…" She said, then turned and called over her shoulder, "Victor, darling! Someone for you, I think"


	2. I want to move on

thank you to everyone that reviewed! I love you all and I am so glad you all like this story! huzzah! long live Victor/Victoria! I am fairly certain there are grammatical errors galore in this chapter I had little/no time to check but I really wanted to post it tonight. oh, and to **Kill all flamers:** I lied, Emily _might_ be coming back, I'm not sure. at the very least a flashback (it won't be lame I swear).but she won't be with Victor. feel free to email me if you want to know why I feel so strongly V/V yay chapter!

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_"I want to move on."

* * *

Victor hurried to the door busily tying his tie._

"Who is it Victori-ah!" He suddenly looked very white but smiled all the same. Victoria smiled thinly back at him. "It's – you. Bo Jingles… Bo Jangles…"

"_Bone_jangles." The skeleton said helpfully.

"Yes Bonejangles!" he gave a strained laugh. "Ahem." Then put his arm around Victoria, trying desperately to look as though he were the one in charge and not the bowler hatted thing from beyond the grave standing outside. Is, there, something we can, can do for you? Sir."

"I _certainly_ hope so." There was an awkward silence

"Ah." Victor finally said, the strained smile still perched precariously on his face. Victoria looked from her husband to the skeleton standing outside and inwardly rolled her eyes.

"Well then," she said graciously, "Do come in"

"Thank you" said Bonejangles, and he did just that. Victoria shot a helpless shrug over to Victor as Bonejangles strode past. Poor Victor looked every bit as lost as if he had wandered again into the forest. Bonejangles seemed not to notice the reluctance of his hosts and instead busied himself admiring the architecture.

"Some place you have here…" as an afterthought he said. "Nicely furnished…" It wasn't really. In fact there was no furniture in the room at all. The couple had only just moved as the reader will surely have gathered by now, and the only rooms that were furnished at all were the parlor/library and the bedroom, those being the rooms in which they spent most of their time (Hildegard's room was very put together as well but that was of course none of their doing). Somehow, Victoria couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not; facial expressions are difficult to read when there is no flesh left to form an actual expression.

"Thank you kindly" she said, careful not to show her confusion. "Would you like something to… er… sit. down. on?" She said slowly, uncertain what he could possibly want to drink, and uncertain whether or not she would want to know.

"That sounds lovely" Bonejangles said happily.

"All right then." There was another pause. Victoria darted a meaning glance towards Victor who appeared to have momentarily checked out. "Victor!" he gave a minute start, "will you um, fetch Hildegard? I think she might like to meet our guest. We'll be in the parlor.

Victor hurried off glad to have an excuse to be gone. She turned back to her guest. Now, if you'll follow me Mr. um…"

"Bonejangles"

"Yes, yes, this way please." Victoria led him into the parlor with small swift steps that were solely her own. She motioned him to take a chair and shut the piano key cover all in one smooth movement, and stiffly sat herself down on the chaise lounge. Bonejangles chose the chair next to the piano which she had been sitting on minutes before and grinned grimly around at his surroundings. His one eye scanned the titles of the books on the bookshelf behind Victoria and (she was uneasy to note) Victoria's own appearance. She sat in demure silence, hands clasped in her lap, reverting back to her ways of impeccable breeding. According to "the rules" she was not allowed to speak unless spoken to when with a stranger, and Bonejangles didn't seem to be in any hurry to say something. He was just too occupied by the parlor

"She's asleep." Victoria and Bonejangles both looked up in surprised at the Victor's pale face poking into the room. Victor crossed the room and sat beside Victoria on the chaise lounge and touched her hand as though to comfort her but more to comfort himself. He didn't like this odd reminder of his past escapade in the land of the dead.

"Well Victor," the skeleton said, "you are a very lucky man… I mean not many get to go down and up so quickly, and into such a sweet little setup… the piano is just lovely" he eyed the instrument with an odd look of lust.

"Yes, yes, but-" Victor tried to interrupt

"You play piano don't you Victor? Always a good talent to-"

"All right-"

"And your little wife," Victoria's eyes widened in surprise, "just, well, a little skinny for my tastes but…"

"All right all right! All right what do you want?" Victor finally said, seeming a little surprised by his own bluntness.

"I need your help."

"Yes, yes, we seemed to have already established this, but what do you need our help for?

"That's the thing, I can't really tell you." Said Bonejangles, seeming nervous for the first time.

"Th-then, I'm afraid I must ask you, sir, to leave." He glanced towards Victoria for support and she raised her eyebrows. "My home. I must ask you to leave my home." He finished quickly. He stood and gestured politely to the door.

"Wait, no! I can't tell you the details but I can tell you that I need you to accompany me on a little… journey."

"Why do you need _our_ help?" Victoria spoke up suspiciously.

"Darlin' you're the only ones I know topside, and I can't just travel by myself." Victoria put a hand on Victor's arm and gestured for him to sit back down "me, a lonely Skeleton…" Bonejangles continued, "trying to make it in the cruel muted land of the living. In this town I can walk around with little more than a raised eyebrow or two, but out there…"

Victoria looked to Victor. They were both unconvinced and Bonejangles could tell, so he had to finally reveal everything in a last ditch effort to appeal to their sympathies.

"I want to move on." He said slowly.

"Move on?" Victoria said. Bonejangles took his bowler hat in his hands and anxiously fixed his one eye on the ribbon around it. "I've been in the land of the dead for so long and it was great for the first decade… or three. But it's kind of lost its flavor since then. There's nothing keeping me there now that… that" he faded out for a moment and looked sincerely disheartened, but it was only a flicker and then he was playacting again. "But apparently there is something keeping me there. I have unfinished business see, or else I wouldn't still be here. As soon as that's taken care of I can move on, like… Emily did." Victoria stood up.

"We'll take you" Both Victor and Bonejangles looked extremely surprised.

"You will?"

"We will?"

"We will." Victoria nodded her head and resolutely squared her shoulders. "You say you have unfinished business and I believe you." Victor still looked thoroughly aghast. "Victor," she said, "wouldn't you love the excuse to get out of this town even for just a little while?"

"Well…"

"Excellent! We'll talk to my mother." Victoria began pacing the small room at a rather dizzying pace. "I know I know! Don't give me that look. Of all our parents, she's the one who would keep our story the longest. No one will miss us for a little while, but when they begin to, she can say that we went on a trip and that we were rather in a hurry so… yes this trip would be best left secret. Her fib would buy us plenty of time."

"But Victoria "

"Victor." She suddenly dropped her voice to a near whisper. "Everyone deserves to rest in peace." The two exchanged a deep meaning gaze and Victor could see that despite all her bustling about, Victoria's eyes were glazed with tears. They smiled.

"Well, that's great you two! Thank you kindly for your help." Said the skeleton as he flipped his hat back upon his skull. "Shall we go then?"

"Yes of course" Victoria laughed. "Just allow us to pack a few things first, and then we'll be-" Victor placed a hand on Victoria's and she turned to meet his confused gaze with her equally questioning one.

"Victoria, what about your father?"

"What about him?"

"They are married won't he be able to tell that she's keeping a secret from him?"

"Oh no, my father hate's my mother." Victoria said lightly turning again to leave.

"Well, regardless of that," Victor awkwardly persisted, "wouldn't he know her enough, won't he… see it in her eyes or something?"

Victoria laughed again and planted a quick kiss o her husband's cheek.

"Don't be silly," she said. "All he can see of her is her chin."


	3. There's an art to putting on a hat

Traveling with the young couple as Bonejangles soon discovered was awkward at best. Downright sickening at worst. It had been nearly an hour of jostling in an uncomfortable carriage, having nothing to do but wonder how long the horses' spindly legs would support them all, and watch Victor and Victoria flirt innocently across the way. Not even an hour and it still felt longer than all the years he had spent in the land of the dead, which is an assuredly large number of years. It might not have been so tortuous if something had actually been accomplished in the flirting, but it was all so damn _innocent_ that any progression was all but impossible.

"… And when I told them about the stories I read all my cousins laughed at me. One of my cousins, Lucy, suggested sweetly that I must be a changeling myself because I'm so… different." Victoria laughed nervously, "needless to say I stopped telling them about my fantasy stories after that. Lucy loved to compete with me. I suppose it was because I was never any competition."

"Your cousins must have been afraid of you." Victor assured her.

"Afraid…?"

"That you would rise up against them when you discovered your strength. And your beauty." Victoria smiled and blushed.

"I never saw myself as beautiful."

"That's because you never saw yourself." Victoria looked into Victor's eyes, and smiled again. He placed his hand on hers and laced their fingers together. They were so swept up in the beauty of the moment that they were entirely surprised to hear an irritable cough from across the carriage. They looked at their other traveling companion.

"I swear, you two are lucky I don't have a stomach…"

-X-

"If only that little bird would sit still."

"Victor, how many more details can you put into that drawing"

"I suppose you're right, Victoria."

"This really is a beautiful drawing. I don't understand! You draw, you play piano… what don't you do?"

"Well…"

"Oh, no, don't answer that."

"I don't… wear corsets."

"Very funny Victor. Bloody hilarious…"

-X-

Victoria wasn't exactly certain how it was even possible but, somehow… Bonejangles had fallen asleep. She wasn't even positive how she could tell, but his eye was nowhere to be found and he was slumped still as death against the jostling carriage window. The affect was chillingly bizarre, and made her wonder just how bored a dead man must be in order to fall asleep.

She waved a hand in front of his face and looked about, disappointed that no one else could share in this phenomenon (Victor too was fast asleep). Her eyes fell on his bowler hat gripped only loosely beneath his bony fingers. That hat… it was a thing of great curiosity to her; absurd, yet eccentrically stylish. She had never seen a bowler quite like this one, and as it twitched and bounced beneath its owner's icy fingers it seemed to mock her.

She tore her eyes from the silly hat determined to ignore its hypnotizing effects.

She noticed that it was very uncomfortable in the small carriage compartment. It was boring, dusty slow and though it was spring, very, very hot. The sun was setting right at the level so that it shined right into the small space. They would soon need to find a place to stay; they would never get all the way to Whitby all in this one day. Because it was spring, Victoria also had the most terrible allergies. Trying to ignore all this _and_ the hat proved to be too much for Victoria's self-restraint.

It was still being held loosely in Bonejangle's sleeping grip. It was so loosely held that it looked precariously about to fall. In fact it looked as if it was just about to. It seemed complete sin, Victoria thought, to allow such a lovely hat to touch such a grimy floor. Just as soon as she thought this the hat slipped in slow motion from under its owner's fingers towards the vile carriage floor. Victoria gasped and lunged catching the hat right before it hit the ground... it was now in her hands.

Victoria looked around once again and saw that everyone really was asleep. She looked back down at the hat and began to carefully place it on her head.

"NO!" Bonejangles knocked the thing from her hands and clutched it to his chest. Victor awoke with a start,

"What is it? What's going on?" He looked from Victoria who was opening and closing her mouth and looked absolutely horror stricken, to Bonejangles who was still protectively grasping his prized possession to his chest. "What's going on?" He repeated. The two ignored him.

"I'm so sorry." Victoria said swiftly. "I'll never touch your hat again."

"I don't care if you _touch_ it." He snapped peevishly.

"I- what?"

"You just can't put it on like _that_, there's an art to putting on a hat like this" he held it up where it glowed in the golden sunlight and gestured to it as though it were a holy object. "It requires skill and panache. You can't just slap it on your skull like some common…"

"But-"

"It Just. Isn't. Done." BoneJangles flipped his hat gracefully onto his head and crossly folded his arms as if to say the matter was settled and that was that. Victoria looked over to Victor thoroughly astonished. Victor was still confused.

-X-

Two days later the odd traveling companions finally arrived at their destination: a moderately busy seaport.

"A seaport?" Victor said incredulously.

"When you said Whitby, I didn't think it was for the seaport." Victoria said wonderingly.

"Well, yeah, this is where I landed. This is where the Ruby Darling left me; see I used to live in San Francisco. I left for my own reasons… Shocking that the boat ride didn't kill me." The three stood staring expectantly at their anticlimactic destination. Victor and Victoria shifted uncomfortably and looked at the hatted skeleton as though expecting something to happen. Bonejangles was resolutely not looking at them. It had only just occurred to them that they had no idea what this "moving on" would entail.

"Is there… anything specific you would like to do… now that you're here?" Victor asked.

"Um… it has to be in the afternoon…" Bonejangles said examining a sign posted nearby. "… Of next Tuesday"

"Next Tuesday?" Victor asked uncertainly. Bonejangles nodded.

"Yes, next Tuesday should be about right." Victor, ever practical, looked concerned.

"But do we have a place to stay?" he asked. Victoria took a step away and bit her knuckles.

"I do hate to…" she said. Victor turned to her.

"What?" He said. She smiled tiredly at him.

"It just so happens that my cousin Lucy lives right nearby."


	4. What about me?

thank you to all my reviewers! anotherblastedromantic: thank you for that, my God it would be so priceless if Victoria attacked Lucy. what amuses me more is the idea of Lucy's reaction to such a surprising turn of events. **Niteflite**: thank you for that, I was wondering whether people thought Victor's and Victoria's flirting was cute, or annoying. it's good to get feedback on that, cause I was a little worried. oh, and I'm now making a greater effort to edit my work a bit more, thank you. **ladyanimefreak: **I don't know... what _will_ Bonejangles do...? Mwuahahaha! **Firefilly: **I'm glad you like the hat part! I happen to have a bowler hat myself and I actually got the idea for that part because of my similar reaction when someone fails to put it on with any sort of panache. I'm beginning to write more and more of myself into Bonejangles which is scary. Mainly because I'm a girl. **Gatekeeper**: pun entirely forgiven. I do hope you haven't died holding your breath for so long. **Ari**: I don't need to write anything to you because I'm just going to see you tomorrow:-P I love you! **Mairy**: does she seem the sort? I hate it when people predict my story before I write it. and a whole chapter ahead too. ah, well, here it is. **Twilight Athena:** Whew. I'm glad the characters are staying in character. do tell me if they begin to stray.

cookies to anyone who can figure out what story Lucy is from. I totally give it away in this chapter, but since no one even imagined she was from another story in the lastchapter (though I certainly gave enough clues) I must now offer a reward to make you guess. And **Ari**, you can't compete because I already told you.

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**"What about me?"**

"Oh I do hope Lucy and my lovely aunt Westerna won't be angry… it is on awfully late notice." Victoria said apprehensively. It was a little after dark when the three traveling companions rumbled in through the gates of Hillingham. Lucy was already outside by the time they reached the end of the long front driveway, peering curiously out the front door. "Let me get out first and talk to her. Then, if everything is all right I'll signal that you can come out, Victor. If not then we'll just have to find an alternate solution."

"Great. When do I get to come out?" Bonejangles asked. Victor and Victoria looked at him.

"Now I must warn you, Victor," Victoria continued as though the speaking Skeleton had not spoken at all, "That Lucy-"

"Wait! What about me? When do I get to come out?" Victoria bit her lip.

"Well, you don't."

"What?"

"You can get out of the carriage after everyone's gone to sleep… I suppose. You'll just have to ask George for help staying hidden."

"George is an incompetent senile old fart," Bonejangles said grumpily.

"Well he's the only one in town who didn't mind being our driver. Actually, he's the only one who didn't mind _you_. So if I were you, I wouldn't complain." Bonejangles folded his arms and mumbled to himself, but didn't complain aloud again.

"Now, Victor, I want you to understand a bit about Lucy before you meet her. She's, well, how can I put this kindly? She's a snake in the grass. She'll make you feel terrible about yourself and smile so brightly while doing it that you'll begin to wonder if maybe she's just doing you a service.

"She going to be hard on you seeing as you're a member of the- oh I hate using this phrase – _'noveaux-riche'_. However, she will be so sweet about it that you'll hardly notice when she does it. And last but not least," Victoria's voice became icy, "if she begins to flirt with you, tell me immediately. It might be hard to tell, as she is very sly, but should it become apparent, _I_ will do something about it. There is no innocence in the flirtations of this one. Her intentions are dangerous and she has always loved to see me fail. If she can do so by using you, it's even better in her eyes."

Victor nodded resolutely as though going off to battle and smiled at his wife. Bonejangles rubbed his chin thoughtfully at the description of the new girl and Victoria bravely opened the carriage door and stepped outside. She straightened her dress and walked towards her cousin, praying she wasn't angry.

A few more steps showed Victoria that her cousin wasn't angry at all. In fact, she was thrilled. She stepped fully from the door and ran down the remaining steps that separated herself from her long lost cousin.

"Oh Victoria!" she cried, flinging her arms around her, "It has been too long! _Far_ too long! Nearly two years! Oh why do you never write?"

Victoria merely smiled and decided not to answer the question, for fear of sounding hopelessly rude. But Lucy didn't notice and instead continued to do all the talking.

"Oh! So many things have happened here! And you've missed it all! A shame your family had to move away in such a rush. You're back on your feet again I trust, that was a bit of a scare now wasn't it?" Victoria knew it wasn't proper for young ladies to speak of financial matters, but then, Lucy never was a particularly proper girl. "…And you simply must meet my friend Mina. You'll adore her, I just know you will! She can write shorthand you know. Did you come here all on your own or…?"

"Oh, no," Victoria replied reluctantly, "my husband, Victor, came with me." And a walking skeleton, she added to herself. Lucy gasped.

"_Husband_?" She peered curiously over Victoria's shoulder at the carriage which she now knew sat a newcomer, this really excited her. "Oh Victoria!" She looked back at her cousin, "What is he like? What is _it_ like?" Victoria blushed and could find no words to answer such a question. Lucy simply laughed. "Oh, never mind, Victoria. You always were such an old ninny. Well? Where is he? I'm so eager to meet him!" Victoria grimaced at Lucy and motioned delicately for Victor to join them on the steps.

As though he were waiting with bated breath for her signal Victor immediately leapt from the carriage and briskly walked up the steps pulling self-consciously at his jacket As he approached the two ladies he met Victoria's pleading eyes and smiled reassuringly at her.

"You must be Victor," Lucy greeted warmly, extending her dainty hand, "I'm so pleased to meet you."

"Pleasure to meet you," Victor said, "Victoria has told me so much about you." Instead of kissing her hand as Lucy had expected, he took it in his and shook it jovially. Even Victoria was a little embarrassed but was pleased to note that Lucy looked shocked and put out for a moment, before smiling forgivingly.

"How quaint…" Lucy mumbled through her smile, eyeing Victor. "Oh, please do come in. My mother is still awake, and you'll have something to drink. You're staying the night, of course?" Victoria acted surprised.

"Oh! I – well, if it isn't too much trouble-"

"No trouble at all, cousin! I haven't seen you in so long and…" her eyes drifted towards Victor, "well, I would have no qualms about you staying the night."

– X –

Twenty minutes later found Victor, Victoria, Lucy, and Mrs. Westerna all sitting in the parlor having tea. Victoria's thoughts idly flitted to poor old Bonejangles, who was condemned to spend the night in the stables. She smiled as the polite conversation went from topic to topic but paid more attention to the temperature of her tea.

"So, Victor, how did you and Victoria meet?" Victoria looked up in alarm from her tea and listened warily to Victor's response. Victor smiled reassuringly at her as though saying he knew how to handle the situation, and Victoria relaxed a bit.

"Well, I had heard about her before actually meeting her. See, in the town where I'm from, not much excitement happens. I don't even think the circus has ever been near." Lucy laughed, a pretty bubbling laugh prompting a smile from Victor, "So, understandably," Victor continued, "The noble Everglotts moving in with their beautiful daughter caused quite a stir. I'd heard a lot of rumors about them before I even saw them. Of course, they didn't leave home very often. It wasn't until three weeks after that I saw them at church. That was the first time I ever saw Victoria, and… she scared me." He smiled sheepishly at Victoria as she looked on in amazement. She had never heard this story before. "She was so noble… the way she prayed. She made me feel mean and insignificant," he took Victoria's hand and they smiled sweetly at each other.

"That's beautiful!" Lucy said abruptly, cutting in, "but when did you two _meet_?" Victoria suddenly hated her cousin even more than before.

"Well, not until the day before our wedding," Victoria said rosily. Lucy put a hand to her mouth.

"Is _that_ what this is?" she gasped, "You two have eloped? Why Victoria, I never would have imagined you had it in you! And to think, you two had come all the way out here to escape from the wrath of your parents."

"I think it's perfectly lovely!" Mrs. Westerna cried, without the slightest inkling about the conversation's topic. Lucy smiled forcefully while grinding her teeth. She wasn't used to her cousin outdoing her in anything and she looked like she might enjoy gouging out Victoria's eyes in a jealous rage. Victoria smiled.

"It's so romantic," Lucy finally finished. Victoria smiled at Victor sending burning messages to him to simply allow Lucy to think that they had eloped; she prayed that he could hear her thoughts.

"Actually," Victor said, "Victoria and I are not running away. Our marriage was arranged." He took Victoria's hand as though this were the most romantic thing imaginable. Apparently he could not read her thoughts, something they would have to work on. There was a long, shockedpause before Lucy finally smiled; only the vaguest hint of smugness playing on her lips.

- X -

"She's simply unbearable! Absolutely impossible!" Victoria fumed. They had finally retired for the night and were now in their large and comfortable suite.

"I was actually very surprised," Victor admitted, taking a rumpled shirt from his trunk.

"I didn't think you would believe me when I said how terrible she was. But now you know. Now you see that wretched creature for what she really is." Victoria bent over her own trunk and began to rummage through it, looking for a hairbrush.

"Oh Victoria," Victor said softly, "don't you think you're being a bit hard on her?" Victoria stood up straight and let out an indignant cry.

"Victor!"

"Well, from the way you described her, I was expecting some sort of… soul sucking vampire. But now that I've met her, she wasn't all that bad. Perhaps your memories of her are coloring your..." the look on his bride's face caused Victer to falter,"… coloring… your… present perceptions of her?"

"Victor! That's just what she wants you to think!" Victoria said in an urgent whisper. "She's terrible! Oh please, not you too Victor, please. You're smart enough to see through her, I know you are!" Victor didn't know what to say. Victoria sighed and shook her head pulling her trunk from the bed onto the floor. "Well then," she said briskly, "in that case we'd better go to bed. I, for one, am exhausted and would love some sleep. Do you have any idea how long we'll be staying here?" Victor shook his head dumbly. "Well. Goodnight then." And with that she climbed into bed and proceeded to immediately fall asleep. Or pretend to.

* * *

well,I justfound outthat there is now a Corpse Bride section on fanfiction, under movies, so this doesn't really have to be under Misc movies anymore. however, I don't know what will happen if I switch the story now. will it mess up the C2 community I'm in? if anyone knows anything about this please email me or something to help me decide whether to switch it or keep it under Misc as is, because I'm not exactly sure what will happen. 


	5. That was classy

Breakfast was a cold and quiet affair. Victoria avoided eye contact, and Victor did the same. After their discussion the previous night, neither wanted to be angered in front of their hosts. Lucy looked up and smiled at the couple every so often as her mother hummed placidly into her porridge. Just as Victoria was about to stand up, her cousin's lilting voice halted her.

"Oh, Victoria, I was thinking, perhaps you and I ought to go to the graveyard, you know the one with the really fantastic view of the ocean? You remember?"

"I remember," Victoria said with a smile.

"Well, it's just been so long since you and I went there. I mean, Mina and I go there all the time now. I suspected you might like to spend some time there."

"That sounds lovely, Lucy."

-X-

The icy ocean waters slapped playfully against the rock of the cliff safely far away from the two young ladies as they made their way arm in arm down the rows of graves in the picturesque graveyard. It was a beautiful spring morning made all the more beautiful by the ominous rain clouds on the horizon. The wind's innocent playfulness began to border on downright violence as it threatened to free Victoria's hair from its docile bun and whipped gaily through Lucy's, which was down about her lovely face.

'Too lovely,' thought Victoria. 'Any girl who finds that sort of loveliness in the glass is bound to turn out bad.' They walked quietly for an oddly long time, but in spite of Lucy's uncharacteristic silence, Victoria was still surprised when Lucy burst out.

"Oh Victoria, I'm so sorry!"

"Whatever for?" Victoria was suddenly worried. How terrible could a deed be to warrant an apology from Lucy?

"Well… your marriage." Ah, yes.

"What about my marriage?" Victoria inquired.

"Well, it was…"

"Arranged?" Victoria finished.

"Yes, arranged." Lucy sighed, as though relieved that she hadn't had to finish the sentence. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what I would have done if it had been me. I would have been so ashamed." Victoria bit her tongue for a moment

"Ashamed to be married to Victor?"

"I well, I didn't mean _that…_"

"Or ashamed to have had an arranged marriage?" Lucy didn't know what to say. "I love Victor very much, my dear cousin, and I am certain I would have loved him had the marriage not been arranged. Besides, it was all very… necessary." Lucy covered her mouth in horror.

"So it was all true, everything that everyone was saying about your family?" Victoria looked away; "Well" Lucy said comfortingly, "Well, dearest, at least there's some sort of title attached to… it…?" Victoria said nothing and Lucy gasped again.

"Lucy, I already told you, Victor and I are very much-"

"You mean-"

"Very much in love. The titles mean-"

"No titles at all? And to marry the nouveaux riche on top of everything else! So dreadful."

"The titles mean nothing to me!" Lucy looked pityingly at her cousin. "I love Victor, and _nothing_ can take that away from us. The titles mean nothing."

-X-

Victor stepped tentatively into the stable, awkwardly knocking on the large wooden door.

"Hello? Bone- Mr. Bonejangles?" He stepped further into the stable and absentmindedly brushed a few raindrops from his hair, looking in all the hidden corners where "Mr." Bonejangles might be concealed.

"Victor, how nice to see you!" Victor started. There was Bonejangles, at the very end of the stable. He had constructed a sort of throne out of the hay, and was now reclining in it. Victor felt odd walking in on Bonejangles like this, almost as though he were encroaching on some holy rite. "Whatever's the matter my dear man!"

"Well, I…" Victor could find not the words.

"Victor!" said Bonejangles soothingly reclining further back in his throne, "tell me about your problems."

"I just, came here to see if you were getting along well. With the horses."

"With the horses," Bonejangles repeated. Victor nodded distractedly, a half smile on his face.

"Yes. The horses." There was a moment in which Bonejangles regarded Victor skeptically from atop his throne and Victor looked as though he were trying to decide on the most polite way to leave.

"Victor" Bonejangles finally said. "Even _you_ are not that distracted and miserable under normal circumstances. And I hardly even know you. Now are you going to go back out into that rainstorm, or are you going to stay here and tell me what's wrong?" Victor opened and closed his mouth as though unsure of how to begin.

"Well."

"_Yes?_"

"Um…"

"Spill it."

"Victoria got …" Victor gulped, "cross at me last night."

Bonejangles laughed.

"Is that all? Wow, and here's me thinking that something's really wrong."

"No! No, you don't understand!" Victor said angrily, and then he softened, "Victoria and I never argue. Never. This is the first time we've ever disagreed on something."

"And it won't be the last, I can assure you that. If you think otherwise you know nothing about marriage." Victor looked sadly at his feet and Bonejangles spoke up again, suddenly sorry for his flippant tone. "Well, are you going to tell me what happened?"

Victor looked up. "You're sure you want to hear it?"

"Eh, I have all the time in the world," he tipped his hat, "No, seriously, I do." Bonejangles shrugged. Victor smiled and took a deep breath.

"Well," he began, "Victoria became very cross at me last night." Bonejangles eyed Victor. "I didn't do anything! All I suggested was that maybe her cousin has changed in the past two years and that maybe she's not so bad. Victoria didn't exactly say anything cruel, she was just… very cold to me after that." Bonejangles looked away as though he himself was cross about Victor's comment. "I just don't know what to do!" Victor finished desperately.

"Oh, Victor… Victor, Victor, _Victor._ You really know how to tick them off don't you?"

"I- I suppose so." Victor said absentmindedly, "Wait, what?"

"Well, you're not exactly… how shall I say… smooth with the ladies."

"Oh? Oh." Victor's face fell.

"Yeah I remember with Emily. Man, 'I would never marry you' that was… classy" there was a hint of real anger behind Bonejangles' words; Victor grimaced.

"You heard about that?" Bonejangles laughed, a chilling bone-rattling sound, which made Victor flinch in spite of himself.

"Of course I heard about that. I was once the primary man in Emily's death. Until, of course, you came along." Bonejangles looked away. "You know there are many a 'groovy young man' out there who would have loved to have been in your place. And what do you do? You botch your chances with her." Bonejangles' eye rolled over to the other side of his skull. Victor shuddered. "But no matter," Bonejangles continued, "if you had married Emily, you'd both still be down there. Together. And I would be forced to see you two together every single sunless day for the rest of eternity, and without suicide as an option…" Victor suddenly felt very guilty although he wasn't exactly sure why (the poor young man was far from intuitive).

"Yep," Bonejangles finally concluded, "no one was closer to Emily than I was. Not even Mrs. Plum." Bonejangles laughed again and it sounded just as bone-chilling as before, but worse, as the sound was now filled with a mocking sadness. There was another pause and Bonejangles looked away from Victor as though unable to bear the sight of him any longer; the conversation was over. Victor inclined his head politely towards 'Mr.' Bonejangles and respectfully began to take his leave.

"Would you like my advice Victor?" Victor stopped in his tracks and whirled around, the skeleton was looking at him again.

"Pardon?"

"Would. You. Like. My. Advice?"

"Y-yes, I would." Victor said eagerly. Bonejangles twirled his hat in his hands and looked over the top of it at Victor.

"Don't screw this up Victor. I've seen you and Victoria together. You were meant to be together. It's obvious. That's why Emily was able to let go. Love Victoria; trust her. If your wife says that her cousin is evil, don't question her. Consider Lucy guilty until proven innocent. Most importantly (and this may be difficult for _you_ to understand) trusting Victoria's judgment is especially important when it judges another female."

"I don't understand _why_, I've-"

"Don't worry about it, I didn't think you would understand, but the point is that you must always trust Victoria's judgment _especially_ when it regards another woman. Personally, I can't imagine Lucy being as terrible as Victoria describes, but then," he chuckled, "I'm not married to Victoria, now am I?" Victor opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by a lilting sunny voice.

"Oh yes Victoria, do get yourself a nice hot cup of tea, you're completely drenched! We wouldn't want you catching a cold, now would we?" There was a light response, presumably Victoria's which Bonejangles and Victor could not discern, Then Lucy's crystalline voice cut through.

"Oh don't worry about me, I just have to stop by the stables for a moment." Victor and Bonejangles looked at each other wide-eyed with horror. "I just have to visit my little Pearl and make certain she's taking this surprise storm well."

Victor and Bonejangles leapt into action. Bonejangles bounded nimbly over his throne while Victor tried to spread the hay over every bone of the dead man's body. He was just spreading the final clump when Lucy opened the stable door.

"Oh, Victor," she gasped in genuine surprise.

"Hello," Victor said, "just… checking on the horses." He glanced pointedly at the two brown, spotty horses belonging to himself and Victoria, "Yep, still here. Well, it was lovely seeing you, Miss Westerna, but I'll just be going in now, and you should really get yourself next to the fire… you're completely sodden. Yes, these surprise April showers are just dreadful." Lucy watched him as he passed.

"Victor," she said calmly, "you're covered in hay." He looked down at his soiled suit as though this were complete news to him.

"Why, yes I am!" He said in feigned surprise, "Good day Miss. Westerna."

"Please, call me Lucy." Victor nodded curtly.

"Lucy then."

"Why are you covered in hay, Victor?" Lucy persisted with a smile.

"Well…_Lucy,_ I suppose… I got in on myself… when I was… checking the hay."

"Checking the hay? Whatever for?"

"Oh, just to make sure that it's the proper sort and not the… not… proper sort. The awful sort, I mean." Lucy raised an eyebrow,

"'The awful sort'?" she asked, Victor nodded earnestly, "and what's so awful about it?"

"Well, it has these … um… and it's … er… you know awful. The horses won't touch it." It took all Bonejangles' self restraint not to leap out and help the poor lad. It was all a morbid game, and Lucy was winning. "Well, Lucy, lovely talking to you, but, I really must be-"

"Do you like horses?" Lucy asked sweetly.

"Well yes," Victor said with a smile, taking a step towards Lucy. Bonejangles needed nothing more to tell him that, yes, beyond a shadow of a doubt Lucy had won.

"I love my Pearl." Lucy smiled winningly, and made her way to a beautiful white horse "I've had her since we were both very young. She's a little past her prime now, but I love her very much. I come out here every day to talk to her" Bonejangles could see the girl was fibbing, but Victor was easily intrigued. He had to concede, this girl was a smart one; she was able to quickly discover Victor's love for nature and use it to her advantage. "Isn't she lovely?"

"She's beautiful," Victor agreed, and the horse, was indeed beautiful. It was easy to see why it's name was Pearl, she had a lustrous pearlescent coat, which positively gleamed with its meticulous grooming; the horse was the stuff of fairy-tales. Victor made his way towards her home stall and stood next to Lucy gazing at the magnificent creature.

"You can probably pet her, just make sure she can smell your hand as you do so."

Victor flattened his hand near Pearl's nose and laid the other hand on her head. She shook her head and made Victor jump before she leaned her head into his still raised hand. Victor laid his hand on the stall door and laughed, still petting the beautiful Pearl.

"All right, then, your turn." Lucy said with a smile.

"My…?"

"I've told you my greatest passion. What's yours then?"

"I like to draw… animals, and plants. I like plants." Victor said lamely, "And the piano. I'm rather good at playing the piano."

"I love the piano!" Lucy cried.

"To listen to…?"

"No, I love to _play_ the piano, I'm taking lessons, but I'm not very good yet."

"Really?" Victor said in mild surprise; he had assumed that all women held the belief as Victoria's mother, and so never allowed their daughters to play piano, but apparently not. "How long have you been taking them?"

"About three months." Lucy said assuredly. Pearl made a sound rather like a contented sigh and the two young people looked at her. Lucy laughed, "She rarely lets people other than me pet her. Normally she gets very indignant."

Victor laughed, "Then why did you allow me to touch her if there was danger involved?"

"Well," Lucy said defensively, "she never minds if the person petting her is someone I like, and I must say Victor," she placed her tiny white hand on top of his where it rested on the stall door. Victor looked at it in confusion and drew it away, "I must confess that I like you very much."

"Well, Lucy, thank you for introducing me to Pearl." Victor smiled at her and began to walk out of the stables.

"Oh Victor, I just want you to know that I think it terrible that you were roped into a marriage with someone like my cousin." Again, Victor was stopped dead in his tracks. He whirled around and took a step towards Lucy.

"Excuse me?"

"I know the sort of person you are, Victor," Lucy rushed up to him, "you are trying to break free from the bonds of proper society, become your own man… Victor, I can tell you right now that my cousin is not the right one with which to do this." Victor looked away.

"I see." He said unable to think of anything else to say. He looked back at her in time to see Lucy's face very near his and registered what was happening only in time to feel her lips pressed feverishly against his. This wasn't right. This wasn't Victoria, and it wasn't right. In a single swift movement he had pushed her away and was halfway across the stable, trembling with a violent emotion he could not put a name to.

"How dare you," he said, "I am a married man!"

"As are most men, Victor," Lucy shrugged carelessly, "your morals are far too austere. Men with morals never get any enjoyment out of life."

"Regardless of what you may think, _Miss Westerna_, I am very much in love with my wife, and if I am to go 'breaking the restrictions of today's society,' as you said, I will do so with her by my side. Good day." He spun on his heel and stalked out of the stables slamming the door behind him.


	6. I only drink the blood of virgins

Wow... this took a long time. sorry bout that... I appear to have lost my inspiration, for some weeks. But worry not! I found it again. and here is my story! Yay!

* * *

"You were in love with her!" Victor exclaimed as he burst in to the stables. 

"Hello to you too, Victor. Nice to see you so perceptive this… evening." It was indeed, the middle of the night. Victor stuck to his point.

"Emily… Bonejangles, you were in love with her weren't you? She… she broke your heart." Bonejangles laughed in resigned sadness.

"Ah Victor, it is a riddle enough to ask if a heart can break once it's stopped beating… let's not beg the question of whether it can break once it's rotted away entirely."

"So… it's true then?"

"Yes. I was in love with Emily."

"Wh-what happened? Did she know?"

Bonejangles laughed again, and then frowned bitterly. "It would have been hard to miss." He said.

"Then what, why did she…?"

"Victor, I traveled thousands of miles, and death was always inches from my heels. What were the odds that I would wind up dead the same town in which Emily was fated to die twenty years later? What were the odds that I would meet her there in death in that happy underworld, and fall in love with a girl I was never supposed to meet? What divine intelligence was at play?"

"I don't …"

"Emily was a hopeless romantic, Victor, but all that was apparently not enough."

"Did she feel the same way?"

"The answer to that question is obvious." There was silence. Victor suddenly understood why he had felt so guilty. Emily was waiting for her true love to fatefully propose marriage to her. She couldn't be with Bonejangles while she was waiting for 'the one.' It was because of Emily's ideal of romance that she had missed out on what could have been the greatest romance of her existence.

"Victor!"

"Victoria!" Victoria hurried into the stable wearing only her nightgown with a heavy shawl thrown about her shoulders. "Victoria! You're not wearing any shoes! You'll catch your death!"

"I was so worried about you. You went straight to bed and didn't say a word to me and - and just now you up and ran into the stables. Oh Victor! I don't want to be angry with you anymore, and I don't want you to be angry either! I can't stand this!" Victor smiled and picked Victoria up, bridal style.

"Victoria, your feet are getting all wet." He said as he set her daintily on the door of an unused horse pen, "I'm not angry with you. I never was. I love you." Victoria smiled as Victor began to wipe the mud from her bare feet with a discarded horse's blanket.

"Oh dear," she said, in realization "I think I might have woken Lucy up on my way down here, our rooms share a wall and I was awfully noisy." Victor stopped what he was doing and looked at her, wide eyed, "Oh, Victor, you were probably right about Lucy anyway, maybe Lucy has changed, but my past experiences with her are simply… coloring…" She trailed off, for Victor had taken a step away and was glaring at the ground. "Victor?" Bonejangles answered for him.

"You were right about your cousin."

"What?"

Bonejangles shook his head, "I can't stand a woman like that," he said angrily, she'll carry on with as many men as possible, and then when the most well-connected of them proposes, that's the one she'll accept, leaving the rest in the dust. Even now… that one's been around. I can tell."

"Oh… surely not?"

"She tried to kiss me!" Victor cried. Victoria gasped in surprise then her face darkened.

"She. What?" Just then, a sunny lilting voice cut across the darkness outside.

"Victoria? Is that you? What are you doing outside? You'll make yourself sick!" She entered through the large stable door, "Oh! Hello Victor," she smiled secretly, "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you come down." Victoria glared at her evilly, and just as she was about to leap upon her and scratch the pretty blue eyes from Lucy's delicate face, Bonejangles came to the rescue.

"Hello," he said pleasantly. Lucy snapped her head in his direction and screamed as Bonejangles laughed jovially.

"B-Be gone Satan!" She howled, holding the laughably tiny cross about her neck as though it were a weapon. Bonejangles rolled his eyes and leapt down from his perch, slowly approaching the terrified girl.

"P-please! Don't hurt me!" She cried as he approached. Bonejangles rolled his eye.

"_You_ have nothin' to worry about, darlin'. I only drink the blood of _virgins_."

Lucy's eyes rolled up into her head, and before anyone could catch her, she fell face down into the muddy ground.

* * *

Long live Bonejangles/Emily! 


End file.
